Device for facilitating putting overshoes on and taking them off



Sept. 30, 1958 M. B. DRATMAN 2,853,305

,DEVICE FOR FACILITATING PUTTING OVERSHOES ON AND TAKING THEM OFF Filed June 27, 1957 IN VENTOR.

M/M) 5 019A TMA/V United States Patent DEVICE FOR FACILITATING PUTTING OVER- SHOES ON AND TAKING THEM OFF Mary B. Dratman, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application June 27, 1957, Serial No. 668,411

1 Claim. (Cl. 36-1) To guard against cold and slush, it is customary to wear overshoes and, if the overshoes are made large enough to slip over the regular shoes easily, they will be uncomfortable, dangerous to walk in, and unsightly. If the overshoes are made small enough not to interfere with walking and so as to have a presentable appearance, the overshoes will be extremely diflicult to put on and take off. In fact, taking the overshoes oif is more burdensome than putting them on because of the direction in which the force must be exerted and because the regular shoes, especially womens shoes, tend to come off with the overshoes. If the shoes are taken off outside the house =or in a small vestibule, this experience can be very unpleasant. This is an old and very common objection and so far as I know, nothing has, so far, been done to alleviate the difficulty.

The object of the present invention is to produce means to facilitate the insertion of regular shoes into, and the withdrawal of said shoes from the overshoes without having to make the overshoes objectionably large, and to provide means to prevent the regular shoes from coming off the foot when the overshoes are taken off.

A further object of the invention is to produce a practical and inexpensive means of the type and for the purpose set forth.

The full nature of the invention will be understood from the following specification and the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the device embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a view, partly in section and partly in elevation showing the device of Fig. 1 worn over a regular shoe in connection with the putting on or taking off of an overshoe to illustrate the manner in which the device of my invention is used.

The device embodying my invention is, generally speaking, in the nature of a slipper in that it includes a sole portion 10, a heel portion 12 and a toe portion 14. The entire device is preferably made from a synthetic light, flexible and smooth material, such as polyvinyl chloride, which is known in the trade as Koroseal, or polyvinylidene, which is known in the trade as Saran, or polyethylene, such as cellophane, all of which are available on the market. In use, the toe portion 14 of the device covers the toe 16 of the shoe and the heel portion 12 of the device covers heel 18, and particularly, the rear edge 20 of the heel of the shoe. The sole portion 10 serves to connect the toe and heel portion 12 and 14. As is well known, the regular shoe on the foot of the wearer is inserted into the overshoe with a downward and forward movement. In the first part of the movement, the toe 16 of the shoe, and particularly the front edge of the sole of the shoe, rubs against the rough inner surface of the overshoe in the instep portion. This makes the initial insertion of the shoe into the overshoe very diflicult. In the latter part of the movement of the shoe into the overshoe, the friction 2,853,805 Patented Sept. 30, 1958 2 between the heel 18 of the shoe, and particularly of its rear edge 20 with the material of the overshoe at the heel portion makes complete insertion of the shoe into the overshoe even more difficult. The same is true in reverse, or when the overshoe is being put off, except that the engagement of the heel of the shoe with the now collapsed rear portion of the overshoe makes taking off the overshoe even more diflicult than putting it on. Furthermore, except when the shoe firmly engages the foot, it tends to come off with the overshoe when the latter is pulled off.

To prevent a loosely fitting shoe from coming off with the overshoe, I provide my device with tabs or cars 24, which can be pulled upwardly while the overshoe is pulled downwardly so as to keep the regular shoe on the foot while the overshoe is being removed.

By covering the toe of the regular shoe which has to be forced through the narrow instep of the overshoe and the heel of the regular shoe, which has to be forced out through the heel pocket of the overshoe, with a material having a low coeflicient of friction, the regular shoe can be slipped into the overshoe with very little effort. I have tried a crude model of my invention, and I find that it works very satisfactorily.

While I have shown the device, as including a toe cover and a heel cover connected by a sole portion 10, it is within the scope of my invention to omit the sole portion, or to omit the sole and the toe portion, because, in my experience, the greatest amount of friction is between the heel portion of the regular shoe and the heel portion of the overshoe. In other words, the heel portion of my device represents the irreducible minimum.

In the specification, the words regular shoe are used to designate any kind of foot wear other than galoshes, overshoes and the like.

What I claim is:

A device for facilitating putting on, and taking ofi, an overshoe which is worn over a regular shoe and to prevent removal of the regular shoe with the overshoe, when the latter is taken off, said device including a toe portion for enclosing the toe of the regular shoe, a heel portion for enclosing the heel of a regular shoe, and a sole connecting said portions, both of said portions being formed of thin, flexible and smooth synthetic material having a relatively low coefficient of friction to facilitate passage of the toe portion of the regular shoes past the restricted instep of an overshoe and to facilitate the entry of the heel of the regular shoe into therestricted heel pocket of the overshoe, and a tab carried by said device for pulling said device upwardly against the regular shoe during the taking off of the overshoe.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 19,543 Winget Apr. 16, 1935 237,887 McCaffrey Feb. 15, 1881 371,221 Shaw Oct. 11, 1887 515,173 Scholding Feb. 20, 1894 556,059 Lacroix Mar. 10, 1896 1,295,022 Gifford Feb. 18, 1919 1,620,935 Arnsberg Mar. 15, 1927 1,631,749 Martin June 7, 1927 2,078,732 Palmer Apr. 27, 1937 2,118,019 Benjafield May 17, 1938 2,214,085 ONeill Sept. 10, 1940 2,285,751 Tamaki 'June 9, 1942 2,490,916 Miller Dec. 13, 1949 2,642,678 Fula June 23, 1953 2,747,303 Abrahams May 29,1956 

